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Libertarians: The Secret Strength of the Immigration Reform Movement

Posted on Jun 30, 2010

Campus Progress, a "national organization that works with and for young people to promote progressive solutions to key political and social challenges," has published an online report about libertarian feelings about immigration.

...More and more, immigration is becoming a major issue among libertarians, who believe in smaller government and more personal freedom. Traditionally, libertarians are more open to immigration than both conservatives and liberals, explains Daniel Griswold, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the libertarian research center the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. “Most libertarians are sympathetic toward immigration. They see human migration as a personal freedom. That’s in contrast to conservatives and Republicans."

...A majority of libertarians take issue with the fact that everyone suffers with certain kinds of immigration laws, like Arizona’s SB 1070 or housing regulations that target undocumented immigrants like Farmers Branch, Texas’ Ordinance No. 2592 [PDF]. Such laws can create a your-papers-please policy which place unnecessary burdens on residents and citizens.

"SB 1070 has a lot of un-libertarian characteristics," says Wes Benedict, executive director of the Libertarian National Committee. "It’s too much intrusion on privacy. We’re taking away too many rights. It penalizes everyone when only a few people are breaking some law."

The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party, founded in 1971. Our vision is for a world in which all individuals can freely exercise the natural right of sole dominion over their own lives, liberty and property by building a political party that elects Libertarians to public office, and moving public policy in a libertarian direction.